This volume explores Gregory Of Nyssa's concept of human nature. It argues that the frequent use Gregory makes of phusis-terminology is not only a terminological predilection, but rather the key to the philosophical and theological foundations of his thought. Starting from an overview of the theological landscape in the early 360's the study first demonstrates the meaning and relevance of universal human nature as an analogy for the Trinity in Cappadocian theology. The second part explores Gregory's use of this same notion in his teaching on the divine economy. It is argued that...

This volume deals with the intellectual and social context of two Christian teachers living in the second half of the second century. It presents a coherent reconstruction and interpretation of their teaching, often considered to be marginal within the development of early Christian doctrine.
The first part of the book seeks to understand the Marcionite Apelles as a cultured person, who shaped his understanding of Christian doctrine in the context of the philosophical background and in permanent discussion with other Christian schools. In this respect Apelles coincides with the Christian...

This volume is a continuation of Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 1937-1986, published by Roberto Radice and David Runia in 1988 (second edition 1992). Prepared with the collaboration of the International Philo Bibliography Project, it contains a complete listing of all scholarly writings on Philo in all languages for the period 1987 to 1996. Part One lists texts, translations, commentaries etc. (75 items). Part Two contains critical studies (880 items). In part Three additional works for the years 1937-1986 are presented (170 items). In all cases a brief description of...

This volume in the series Documentary History of the Jews in Italy illustrates the history of the Jews in Sicily for most of the fourteenth century. It is the sequel to the first volume on the history of the Jews in Sicily, and illustrates the events of the first century of Aragonese rule over the island. During that period, often unsettled by political upheavals, the Jewish minority flourished economically, but suffered, along with the rest of the population, during civil war and uprisings of the barons. Some thousand documents, many of them published here for the first time, record...

This monograph comprises a new critical edition of Ps.-Athenagoras De Resurrectione Mortuorum, a complete edition of Arethas' Scholia on the treatise, and (in the Appendix) a critical edition of the extant fragments of De Resurrectione attributed to Justin Martyr. Athenagoras was a Christian apologist, who flourished in the second half of the second century CE (ca. 180). Traditionally two extant Greek works have been attributed to him: a Plea on Behalf of the Christians, probably addressed to the Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, and the On the Resurrection...

This volume treats the concepts of revelation, truth, canon, and interpretation as four pillars of early Christian theology. Using Justin Martyr as a case-study, his "Dialogue with Trypho" is examined with a view toward discerning how a second century Christian father understands and develops these concepts. Justin's intellectual background is discussed within the nuanced context of Middle Platonism. Particular attention is paid to his use of biblical sources which is grounded in the foundational chapter on revelation in Justin. Justin is placed within the wider context of theological...

This volume addresses the question of the Apostle Paul's literary and theological influences on Polycarp of Smyrna. To this end, the most detailed analysis in print of Polycarp's dependence on earlier literature--both biblical and extra-biblical--is undertaken in the first part of the book. This general analysis forms the basis for the study of three questions:
1) Is Polyarp an imitator of Paul?
2) Whom does Polycarp think is the author of the Pastoral Epistles?
3) To what degree is Polycarp influenced by the theology of Paul?
This volume will be of particular interest to anyone...

This study addresses the philosophical context of the Mystagogy of Maximus the Confessor. It examines how the Byzantine monk integrates Neoplatonist topics when exposing one of the most important feature of his religious conception of the physical world or cosmology. The volume contains three chapters. The first one compares the purpose of the Mystagogy and the program of the philosophical training in late Antiquity. The second consists of two parts: (1) study of the use of the Aristotelian categories of 'when' and 'where' in the 'Ambiguum 10' of Maximus in order to analyse the status of...

The book illuminates "the other side" of early Christianity by examining thinkers and movements that were embraced by many second-century religious seekers as legitimate forms of Christianity, but which are now largely forgotten, or are known only from the characteristics attributed to them in the writings of their main adversaries. The collection deals with the following teachers and movements: Basilides, Sethianism, Valentinus' school, Marcion, Tatian, Bardaisan, Montanists, Cerinthus, Ebionites, Nazarenes, Jewish-Christianity of the Pseudo-Clementines, and Elchasites. Where...

This book gathers 37 letters of St Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-394), translated into English, some for the first time, and equipped with up-to-date scholarly notes. It begins with a biography focusing on Gregory's family background and young adulthood. A study of Gregory the letter writer follows, with a dateline of the letters. Three sub-collections of letters follow: 1. 'Prelude' comprising testimonia from Basil and Gregory Nazianzen, 2. 'The Pasquali Collection', the 30 letters established by G. Pasquali, 3. 'Supplementary', one letter always known as Gregory's, five letters reassigned to...